U.S. steps in as clamor grows to ban Israel from 2026 FIFA World Cup
As always, the United States has stepped in as clamor to ban Israel from 2026 FIFA Football World Cup became louder.
[A giant billboard asking soccer federations to boycott Israel has been put in Times Square, New York by a coalition of advocacy groups and European football fans.]
Washington: As always, the United States has stepped in as clamor to ban Israel from 2026 FIFA Football World Cup became louder.
The demand to ban Israel from 2026 FIFA World Cup, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Championships and other international sporting events intensified after a high level enquiry by UN experts said there are conclusive evidence of Israeli Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Following this, the UN experts in a statement released Wednesday called on the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to suspend Israel as a country team from international football, as a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“The conclusion of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, that Israel is committing Genocide is the latest in a growing number of international bodies affirming that Genocide is being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The ICJ’s Interim Order of 26 January 2024 reminded every country of its legal obligations to act against genocide,” the experts said.
“Sports must reject the perception that it is business as usual. Sporting bodies must not turn a blind eye to grave human rights violations, especially when their platforms are used to normalise injustices”, the UN experts said.
“National teams representing States that commit massive human rights violations can and should be suspended, as has happened in the past,” they said.
Taking a strong stand, Spain said it will boycott the 2026 FIFA World Cup if Israel is not suspended from the international football tournament.
"Israel cannot continue to use any international platform to whitewash its image," Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
He said Israel should be treated in the same way as Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
U.S. backs Israel
The United States, on the other hand, said it will try to prevent any attempt to ban Israel from competing at the 2026 Football World Cup.
"We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel's national soccer team from the World Cup”, a US State Department spokesperson told BBC Sport.
Meanwhile, there have been reports that European football's governing body UEFA is moving toward a vote to suspend Israel over its Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
According to Associated Press, a majority of the UEFA 20-member Executive Committee is expected to support any vote in favor of suspending Israeli teams from international play.
If passed, the vote will prevent Israeli national and clubs teams from playing in international competitions including next year's World Cup.
2026 FIFA World Cup
The 2026 edition of the World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams and three host countries. The United States will have 11 of the 16 hosts cities at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will also feature matches in Mexico and Canada.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup final will be played on July 19, 2026. Japan is the first team to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
As of now ony 18 of the 48 teams have qualified for the 2026 FIFA Football World Cup. The remaining teams are scheduled to play their World Cup Qualifiers in the coming weeks.
Israel's national football team is set to start its World Cup qualifying campaign in two weeks with away games against Norway and Italy. These matches, however, will be cancelled if Israel is suspended.
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